Miracle Monday

OK, so I was inspired by Beth's Miracle Monday posts...so I thought I'd share one of my own.

After we adopted D. from Russia, I went to work for the adoption agency we had used. Mistake. Big mistake. Right from the beginning, I sensed that I was not employed by the most ethical of people. Let me back up and say that D.'s adoption went very smoothly and was done "by the book." But, after getting a "behind the scenes" taste of the company, I realized the facilitator we used (which happened to be the parent company of our agency) did not have the best reputation.

So, I was pretty much miserable. Every day.

D. was in child care and, to make matters worse, my hubby and I were commuting an hour and a half ONE WAY every day because his company had been bought out and his new position was north of Atlanta--and we were south. Every day, I would get in the car at 5:00pm and cry all the way home. I despised my job, I hated the commute and the fact that I never got to see the child that I had traveled halfway cross the world to find.

Something had to change.

So, one night, I couldn't sleep. All I could do was pray. I prayed hard. I asked God to make it possible for me to have a job where I could be at home with my son yet still contribute to the financial needs of our family. I laid in bed wide awake perusing my mental Rolodex for anyone in my past that might be able to point me in the right direction. At one point, I thought about an old friend that I hadn't spoken to in at least 6 years. He and I had worked for different associations in the same industry and had come to know each other by sharing ideas and seeing each other at random industry conferences. His name is Craig and, as far as I knew, he still lived in Alabama.

I quickly dismissed that idea because I hadn't the confidence to phone someone up and say "hey-- you need someone to plan events for you? Someone that is working at an adoption agency and wants to work for you out of her house?"

The next morning, I went to work as usual...resigned to the misery of our current situation. I went through my day on autopilot, pining for the time to come when we would once again climb in our vehicle and sit in traffic for nearly 2 hours with our child waited on the other end of town. As was custom, I broke down into tears and told my hubby that I didn't think I could do it anymore.

Then my cell phone rang. I dug into my purse to pull it out and saw an Alabama area code with an unfamiliar number.

"Hello?, " I answered.

"Katie?," said the voice on the other end of the line.

"This is Katie."

"Hey, Katie, this is a blast from your past. This is your old pal Craig. How are ya?"

I felt confused. Craig? How did he? Why was he? How ironic that he would call after I had just thought of him the night before. I looked over at my husband with a look of total bewilderment.

"Katie, I know this sounds a little odd. But, I was wondering if you were working right now and whether or not I could interest you in an opportunity."

This was not happening. Couldn't be.

"Sure, whatcha got?," I anxiously replied while trying to not let on about my utter surprise.

"Well, I'm still with the same association and I'm looking for someone to plan our events and meetings but preferably from their home."

There is no way that he said what he just said.

"Are you kidding me?," I replied in an obviously stunned voice.

Knowing that Craig was a fellow Christian I relayed the story of the past 24 hours to him and he was as blown away as I was. His explanation was that I had "come to mind" the night before and he thought it might be something I'd be interested in doing.

Some speak of this thing called coincidence. I speak of miracles. There is no other explanation for what happened on that January day in 2005. God heard my prayer and it was answered. I am still employed by them today and could not be happier.

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Check out other Miracle Monday stories over at Beth's place...and feel free to share one of your own!